Disclosures in home buying/selling

[ohgirlohboyohno]

So...just curious, when you sold your house were you honest with the disclosures?

We put in an offer for a house that has some obvious slab issues in the garage...in the disclosure the owners marked "yes" but then crossed it off and marked "no"....I wonder how "honest" people are on their disclosures or if they mostly just "play dumb" and hope the inspections don't pick it up?....like I could see them thinking "well we never had anyone come tell us "professionally" that something is wrong here...nevermind the cracks and everything"

[s@hmommy]

We were very honest. Are you sure that it is an issue and not just a crack from settling? We have a crack in ours, our house is barely 2 years old but it is no more than a cosmetic problem for us.

[ohgirlohboyohno]

Originally Posted by s@hmommy We were very honest. Are you sure that it is an issue and not just a crack from settling? We have a crack in ours, our house is barely 2 years old but it is no more than a cosmetic problem for us.

Well, I'm no expert but the cement floor is cracked, the sheetrock wall is cracked, and the brick outside has a crack about 1 inch wide....they all pretty much line up down the middle of the garage...like the front of the garage is sliding down the driveway...doesn't appear to have any cracks in the "house" part...and the crack in the brick has some "patching" done...so someone saw that crack and filled it in, it is spreading more though.

[Mack]

In most states it is illegal to write inaccurate disclosures. I would keep a copy, and ask for a written explanation of the change, and.or ask for the seller to pay for inspection of slab because of discrepancy.

[Rockinmama24]

We were 100% honest both times we sold, right down to a small foundation crack. The person we bought this house from lied, lied, & more lied & we had zero recourse because she's a deadbeat.

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[s@hmommy]

Originally Posted by ohgirlohboyohno Well, I'm no expert but the cement floor is cracked, the sheetrock wall is cracked, and the brick outside has a crack about 1 inch wide....they all pretty much line up down the middle of the garage...like the front of the garage is sliding down the driveway...doesn't appear to have any cracks in the "house" part...and the crack in the brick has some "patching" done...so someone saw that crack and filled it in, it is spreading more though.

That does sound like an issue. One inch is a really big crack, that teamed with the corresponding cracks on the wall are definitely worth having looked at very closely.

[ohgirlohboyohno]

I have the copy of their disclosures...they disclosed NOTHING! .... which I thought was weird, and because they have had the house since 2007 so plenty of time to "discover" stuff...and then the "scratched" off disclosure just seemed odd....we are getting an inspection of the whole house, no matter what.

I want to go knock on the neighbors house and ask them....would that be weird stalker-ish? Those people have lived there since the houses were built.

[CarrieMF]

Did you see the crack when you looked at the house? A 1" crack is very large. If it is on the floor then it should be take up and redone properly. It could be caused from an improper slab, not letting it cure or from settlement.

[ohgirlohboyohno]

Originally Posted by CarrieMF Did you see the crack when you looked at the house? A 1" crack is very large. If it is on the floor then it should be take up and redone properly. It could be caused from an improper slab, not letting it cure or from settlement.

Yes, we've looked at it twice...the largest "Crack" is in the brick on an exterior wall...the floor crack is probably wide enough to put a toothepick in.

Our realtor said after inspections, if the engineer says there is an issue, then they have to fix it or we walk away...

I was just curious cause it is clearly there and visible yet they disclosed that they knew of nothing wrong....I didn't know if in disclosures it was common to "play dumb" as in...hey I have no idea why everything is cracked....or I have no idea where all that water in the ceiling is from.....or I have no idea why there is smoke damage in the hallway

[shortcake2386]

we havent sold but we will be honest. the people we bought our house from were not. as in the bay window was completely rotted from old termite damage. dh had to rip the whole wall(interior and exterior) down to the studs and rebuild. there are other issues also. but the window when we called to have it looked at the guy said he told the old owners it HAD to be replaced 2 years before they sold to us:/ they said there was no termite damage or rot.